Butt Pats
by VioletDragonian
Summary: In which Fox's blindness makes his initiation into Beacon a bit complicated, but lucky for him, his new partner is cool. But when Fox uses his Grimm exploding technique, said partner doesn't know to avoid its aftermath... (Part 1 of a series of Coco/Fox short fics)


**A/N: Because the fandom needs more Coco/Fox fluff.**

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><p>"The first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years." Beacon's headmaster, Professor Ozpin, spoke easily as if he'd told that same speech hundreds of times.<p>

_He probably has. It's not like we're the first students to join under him._ Fox thought, forgetting to listen to the rest of Ozpin's explanation. _Wait, eye contact!?_

Before Fox could properly freak out about that bit of the initiation, he was suddenly flung in the air. He could hear the air roaring in his ears as he flew, realizing that at the speed he was going, his landing was not going to be pleasant. He heard a few of the other students giving cries of fear or exhilaration, but he couldn't tell exactly where they were in relation to him because of the wind.

It took a good couple of minutes for him to come down, though the wind still prevented him from finding his bearings correctly and so he didn't know he was almost at the end of his flight until the sound of wind was replaced by branches whipping around and breaking and a face full of leaves as he fell into them. Soon though, the branches ended and he fell another few feet onto the hard ground with a dull thud.

_Ow._

Fox's head throbbed from the rough landing, and he could feel a multitude of new scratches all over his body from the branches. The sound of the leaves rustling above him reached his ears, and he debated whether or not it was worth it to get up yet.

_Maybe coming here was a mistake._

Eventually he forced himself to his feet, head spinning as he did so. He tried shaking it to clear it, but that only made his headache worse and he groaned in annoyance as he started walking in a random direction, unsure of which direction was which in this unfamiliar forest.

It was eerily quiet here, giving him an uneasy feeling. Any of the forests he'd ever been to before had been full of the sounds of wildlife, birds chirping and small animals rustling around in the grass, but this place was completely devoid of that. He couldn't even hear the wind now, and the leaves above him had stilled. There were no sounds other than his footsteps and his own heartbeat in his ears.

Pausing for a moment, he smelled the air. There was a faint breeze, not enough to stir the plants but enough to carry scents, and he noticed the smell of gunpowder floating in on it now that he focused. Knowing that meant someone somewhere was fighting, he turned to follow where the breeze was coming from.

Soon he could hear the sounds of Grimm stomping around and growling, and what sounded like a couple of people fighting them, though he didn't hear any gunfire so he wondered if the smell had drifted from a different fight somewhere else. Drawing closer, his ears confirmed that it was two people up against a few different types of Grimm, and he listened for a few moments longer to see if they needed his help.

_Not that anyone ever wants help from someone like me._

Picking apart the different sounds with a skill only acquired from years of relying on hearing alone, he realized the students were only focused on one side of Grimm and didn't seem to notice the King Taijitu coming up behind them. Not wanting the students to meet an early grave from the unlucky mistake of not watching their backs, Fox climbed a nearby tree to gain some height before leaping out of it toward the unnoticed Grimm.

The creature gave a surprised hiss when he landed on one of its heads, and he quickly slammed one arm against its skull to lodge himself in place as it started swinging around, trying to fling him off. He felt the hate-filled gaze of its other head on him, and jerked his arm sharply against the first one, making it wrench itself backward and causing the other to miss as it tried to lunge for him.

Bringing his other arm up and aiming the blade down toward the Grimm, he gave the first head a few deep stab wounds and felt it start to go limp under him. Once it started to fall he jumped off, landing on the ground a few feet away from where the head landed.

Fox slowly swung his head around, tilting it slightly in different directions. _Now, where's your other half…_ An enraged hiss from behind him was his only answer, and he immediately dove forward, narrowly avoiding the second head as it crashed into the ground in an attempt to crush him. He felt the air move as the oversized snake shook its remaining head, dazed, and he turned back around to swing a punch at it while it was within reach.

His hit landed right on its nose, and it snorted at him in defiance. Following up the first punch with a few more, each with more strength than the last, he caught the Grimm off guard and the second head fell back against the ground from the barrage of punches. He didn't hear it move again.

"Wow, you were able to take that thing out all on your own?" A female voice sounded from somewhere to his left, and he turned in that general direction. The owner of the voice continued. "Thanks for the help, I'm not sure what would have happened to us if you hadn't come along."

"It's nothing." Fox waved her off. "Just remember to keep an eye out behind you, these things love getting a surprise hit in."

"Thanks for the advice." A man's voice said from beside the first one, and Fox just nodded to show he'd heard.

"Do you have a partner yet?" The girl asked.

"No, you're the first people I've met since landing." Fox told her. As an afterthought, "Hey, uh, what exactly are we supposed to be doing? … I kind of missed the second part of the headmaster's speech."

"Oh, we have to head to the northern part of the forest and find a temple with some relics in it." She explained. "And then each pair of partners has to choose one and bring it back to the cliff."

"Thanks, I had absolutely no clue what to do." Fox admitted, and the girl chuckled.

"Happens to the best of us."

Fox smelled the air again, noting that the gunpowder smell was stronger now. Deciding his best bet was to keep trying to find the owner of that gun, he nodded in the general direction of the other two students. "Good luck on finding the temple, I'm gonna go see if I can find someone else without a partner."

He was already walking away when the girl called to him again. "Wait! What's your name?"

"Fox." He answered simply, without turning around.

"Good luck, Fox."

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><p>It felt like forever before Fox finally heard the sound of bullets being fired in quick succession, but before he could follow it to its source something barreled out of the bushes and swatted him into a nearby tree. Not having expected the sudden attack, it took Fox a few moments to properly catch his breath from the impact with the tree, and he stood wearily.<p>

The Grimm that had attacked him was standing nearby, growling, and he recognized the sound as an Ursa. He scowled at this, knowing he'd never done well against this particular type of Grimm, but adjusted his blades before lunging for it anyway.

As soon as he got close, he was swatted away by a massive paw, his momentum causing him to hit the ground hard. _And that's why I hate these. They always seem to know._ He tried to stand up before the approaching footsteps could get too close, but wasn't fast enough, instead finding himself pinned to the ground by that large paw a moment later. The Ursa roared in his face, though all that accomplished was making the student regret his decision to have breakfast that morning as the smell made his stomach churn.

His mind raced to try and find a way out of the creature's grip before it could finish him off, but he came up blank. He was starting to panic as he felt it press more weight against his chest, making it harder to breathe by the second.

Suddenly there was the sound of something heavy colliding with the Ursa's skull and the weight was gone, letting Fox breathe again. He gasped, trying to refill his lungs, and fell into a coughing fit while his unknown rescuer finished off the Ursa that was trying to get up again.

As soon as his coughs subsided, he sat still and breathed for a few moments. He could feel the presence of someone to his right and looked up at where he guessed they were, wondering if they were going to say anything to him. Another few minutes passed by before he figured they were probably waiting for him to talk first, but when he opened his mouth to thank them they finally spoke.

"Look, I know I look great but are you just going to sit there and stare at me all day?" The voice told him his rescuer was female, and she sounded somewhere between annoyed and amused. "And are you going to let me help you up or not? My arm's getting tired from holding it out for the past five minutes."

"Oh! Uh, sorry." Fox mumbled, embarrassed, and reached out to search for her hand. Finding it, he was just going to let her help him find his balance but found himself being effortlessly pulled up and onto his feet. He blinked in surprise when he realized he was standing. "Wow, you're strong."

"Well I do have to carry this thing around all day." He guessed she was holding whatever she'd used to kill the Ursa out to him, and he reached out to find it. His hands brushed against what felt like some sort of studded handbag, and when he found the handle, the girl let go of it.

And then Fox was dragged back down to the ground with the handbag as it fell like a lead weight, making him wonder if she stuffed an anvil in it. "What is in this thing!?"

"A really big gun." He could just _hear_ the smirk in her voice as she took the handbag back and pulled him up again. "I'm Coco, by the way."

"Fox." He replied, dusting off his clothes and adjusting his blades again. "Hey, do you have a partner yet?"

"What?" She sounded genuinely confused. "No, you're supposed to be my partner, right? You're the first person I've made eye contact with."

"Ooh… Uh, about that…" Fox scratched the back of his head, and could feel her confused stare on him. "I'm, well I uh… I'm not sure if it counts."

"Why would it not count? Ozpin said those were the rules."

"I'm blind."

Coco was silent for several seconds, just staring at him. He wondered momentarily whether her mouth was hanging open in surprise or if she was giving him a mocking look for his disability. "Oh, now it makes sense…"

Fox continued quickly, afraid she was going to decide to mock him. "Look, I can't see you in order _to_ make eye contact, so I don't know if it still counts. If you want, you can say it doesn't and find someone else to be your…"

He trailed off as he heard her walk closer, unsure of her intentions. She came right up to him, close enough that her breath breezed against his face as she spoke next, and he froze.

"Hmm, well I believe it counts, so screw anyone who says otherwise. I'm not going to walk off and find another partner just because you're blind, that's just wrong. And if the professors say it doesn't count because you can't see me, then-" She paused, leaning even closer so their chests were touching and snaked her arms around behind him to pat his butt. "Now it does."

Coco pulled away, leaving Fox frozen in place with his face as red as a fire Dust crystal, and she laughed at his expression. When Fox regained control of his limbs again, he fell over.

"Come on Foxy boy, we've got a relic to find." His new partner continued laughing as she walked north, leaving the melted pile of embarrassed Fox on the forest floor.

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><p>After another hour or so of searching the forest, Fox and Coco finally found the temple. Coco was the one to spot it through the trees, and Fox found himself glad for her company, deciding he wouldn't have been able to find the temple on his own at all.<p>

He followed the sound of his partner's footsteps as she walked up to the old stone structure, making sure to stop when she did to avoid running into her. When she started talking, Fox half expected a sassy comment about the structural design of the temple or something, but what she actually said left him speechless.

"There's a large stone floor, raised three steps off the ground and the stones are laid out in an intricate patter. Around it are some old pillars that are falling into each other from the wear of time, and a half-collapsed stone wall enclosing half of it. On the stone floor itself are a bunch of stone pedestals lining the edge, and the relics are on those pedestals, though over half of them are missing now so a bunch of other teams must have gotten here already. The relics themselves are chess pieces, I think. The relics look new because they're clean and shiny, but the temple is covered in moss and ivy, and there are a bunch of old symbols I don't recognize carved into the pillars and pedestals." The way Coco explained what she saw in full detail allowed Fox to see it himself, in his head, and he spent a full minute staring openmouthed at his partner before she spoke again. "What? You can't see it, so... If you don't want me to describe things, then-"

"No, I just..." Fox paused, unsure of how to say what he was thinking. "People don't usually bother. Actually, I don't think anyone has before. I always have to ask people what something looks like or figure it out myself by touching it."

"Well everyone else are assholes." Coco stated flatly, and Fox laughed.

"Thanks for telling me what it looks like here."

There was a few moments of silence before Coco walked forward again, Fox following. He felt the surface under his boots change as they stepped onto the stone floor she'd described. "Which relic do you want to get?"

"You're asking me?"

"Yep."

Fox paused, thinking. "You said they were chess pieces, what colors are they?"

"Grey and brown."

"The brown knight piece." He decided, nodding slightly as he adjusted his blades.

Coco walked away, and Fox found his head turning toward her as she went even though he couldn't see her. "Got it."

He didn't answer, his attention suddenly drawn to the rustling coming from the treeline nearby. His head tilted slightly in different directions and angles as he tried to pinpoint exactly where it was coming from, and what was causing it.

His partner seemed to have been expecting a reply, but noticed his strange behavior. "What do you hear?"

"Grimm, I think. Something's moving around in the bushes, but it's coming from multiple different spots so it isn't another team." Fox turned his blind stare onto Coco. "Sounds like a whole pack."

"Looks like one, too." She agreed as the Grimm started appearing out of the forest one by one. "It's a Beowolf pack, along with a really big Ursa."

"Have they seen us?"

"Yep."

Fox adjusted his blades again, noticing how his partner stayed right beside him as he started toward the pack. The first few Beowolves came up to the pair, only to be quickly defeated by either a slash from Fox's blades or smashed into oblivion by Coco's handbag. The next two or three groups to attack them met the same fate, until more and more started coming.

Fox heard Coco fall back behind him, the sound of a weapon shifting form as she brought out the big guns, literally. She picked off a large number of Grimm easily, though the fire was turned away from the pack in front of Fox, and he realized there must be more coming up behind them that she was focusing on now.

The Beowolves approaching him were easy to aim for because of their loud running, allowing him to easily punch each one away until he reached the Ursa Coco had mentioned. It roared at him and swung a paw that he ducked under, then he came up from behind the paw and used his Aura to hit the creature with the strongest punch he could muster.

It fell back, the force of the punch along with the added effect from his Aura causing it to explode, sending its bone spikes flying in every direction as highly lethal projectiles. All of the Beowolves around it were instantly defeated, all skewered with sharp bits of bone, and he would have felt proud of the victory if not for the sound from behind him that made his blood run cold.

The pained gasp from his partner and the sound of her falling to the ground had him mentally screaming at himself for forgetting that move did have the ability to injure his allies as well as enemies.

Fox turned and ran back to her, coming to a stop right beside where she lay. The smell of blood hit him strongly, and his eyes widened._ Damn it all, I can't even see the damage._ "Where are you injured?"

"I'm okay Fox, it's just my shoulder." She reached over and put a hand on his arm, pressing against him reassuringly. "The spike went right through, we don't even have to worry about pulling it out. As soon as we get back to the cliff I can get patched up, now stop panicking."

Fox hadn't even realized he was, but Coco's comment made him notice his heart hammering against the inside of his chest and the fear that was probably plainly written across his face.

"Right, okay, sorry." He breathed, trying to calm down and ignore the fact he'd injured her and they hadn't even been made a real team yet. "You okay?"

"Absolutely fi- oh no the world is spinning now." Coco had tried to get up, but Fox realized she must be bleeding enough that the movement made her dizzy.

"You can't walk, and you're not going to convince me otherwise." Fox decided, gently making her sit up and then pulling her onto his back, with a little bit of trouble due to the handbag she still carried. He managed to do it though, and made sure she was as comfortable as she could be before taking off into the forest at a run. She didn't protest him carrying her at all, and she passed out a few minutes later, making Fox realize she needed help as soon as possible.

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><p>Coco groaned as she was dragged back into consciousness, her shoulder burning vaguely and a harsh headache splitting her skull. Opening her eyes, she found herself in a plain white bed, and realized this must be the infirmary at Beacon.<p>

_How did I get here...?_ She wondered, trying to remember what had happened at initiation. She remembered fighting Grimm, getting injured, then reassuring Fox, and after that her memory faded. Looking down, she noticed her shoulder was properly bandaged, and she was willing to bet there were stitches underneath the white material.

The sound of a door opening made her look up, and she saw Fox enter the room. His weapons were gone, probably stored back in his locker, and he looked tired. His blind gaze was trained on the floor as he walked over, taking a seat on the edge of her bed. "You okay there, Fox?"

He visibly jumped, turning his unseeing white stare onto her. Coco was reminded again of how intense his gaze was, she hadn't realized he was blind at first because his eyes always looked focused instead of dull. She'd also noticed whatever emotion Fox was feeling was shown clearly in his eyes, allowing her to read him like a book.

"I'm sorry."

Her partner looked like he was on the edge of breaking down, guilt written all over his features and unshed tears making his white eyes shinier than normal. She gave him a gentle smile, though he couldn't see it. "I'm fine."

"But it's my fault you got hurt." He mumbled, turning back to the floor. Coco frowned, not liking how he blamed himself, and sat up.

"Look here, pretty boy." Wrapping her arms around him in a gentle hug, she pressed her face into the back of his neck. He tensed under her touch. "What happened was an accident. You just didn't realize what would happen when the Ursa exploded, and that's okay. We're students, Fox. We're supposed to make mistakes, get hurt, and learn from it."

Fox was frozen under her arms, barely daring to move, and she continued with another thought.

"The only way I'd think it was your fault was if you consciously decided to hurt me. Did you _want_ to hurt me, Fox?" She felt him shiver as the breath from her words touched his skin.

"No!" He pulled away just enough to face her, though he didn't remove her arms from their place around him. "I could never hurt you on purpose…"

Coco smirked, tightening her grip and laying back down again, pulling Fox with her as she did so. Her smirk grew into a Cheshire grin from the amount of red that colored Fox's face when he realized she'd pulled him on top of her. He was frozen again, except for the small movement to brace his hands on either side of her shoulders and lifting himself up a bit so there was at least a little space between their bodies. She was glad he didn't try to move away further, staying there to just hover over her.

His face was still red as possible as he stared blindly down at her, and she looked up to meet his gaze as she spoke next. "Then let it go and understand it's not your fault. If you don't, your mistakes will only bring you down. Learn from them and move on, don't linger and blame yourself for them."

"Coco…" Fox started, but was cut off by the sound of the door opening.

"Fox, we're all being called to the team naming ceremony and…" Coco heard a female voice trail off, and Fox sat up and turned to the girl. "Am I, uh, interrupting something?"

"No, it's nothing. Thanks Velvet, we'll be right over." Coco assumed the girl nodded because then Fox turned back to her as the door shut again. "Well, that's going to be awkward later."

"Who was that, one of the other students?" Coco asked, suddenly curious.

"Yeah, that's Velvet. I met her and her partner in the forest, her partner actually helped me out when I got back to the cliffs with you because he carried your weapon." Fox explained. "Velvet was actually really surprised to find out I'm blind."

"We should go join them." Coco said, remembering what Velvet said. Fox nodded and started to move off her when she smirked again and leaned toward him, stopping when her mouth almost met his ear. "_This_ isn't over, though."

Fox shivered again and quickly vacated the bed, standing up straight a few feet away and shaking himself like a dog would after getting wet, as if trying to literally shake off the feeling she gave him. Coco just laughed at him and stood up, turning to walk out of the room with her flustered partner in tow.

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><p>Fox followed the dull sound of Ozpin's voice through large speakers and clapping to the speech hall, where all of the new students were being assigned to their teams.<p>

"Any idea who our teammates will be?" Coco asked from her place beside him.

"No clue. They took everyone's relics when we got back to the cliffs, but didn't say anything about what the teams would be." Fox told her, remembering the events that had transpired while she was unconscious in the forest. He'd managed to avoid most Grimm and make it back to the cliffs in record time, though he was exhausted by the time he got there. The students that had already made it back all showed concern for Coco, including the two partners Fox had saved from the King Taijiitu.

He was still appreciative of their help then. The girl, who then introduced herself as Velvet, checked Coco's wound for him when he explained that he couldn't look at it himself. Her partner, Yatsuhashi, offered to carry Coco's ridiculously heavy weapon after noticing how close Fox was to simply collapsing right there. On the ride back to Beacon was when Velvet told Fox she was surprised to learn he was blind, saying his fight against the King Taijitu was flawless and that she never would have guessed he was blind from that.

"Yo, earth to Fox boy." Coco's voice reached his ears and dragged him back to the present, and he turned to face her. "You've been spaced out for the past five minutes."

"Right, sorry."

"You apologize too much."

"… Sorry?"

Fox jumped when Coco's hand found its way to his butt again, leaving a gentle pat. "You're hopeless." She murmured fondly.

He let out a flustered breath and followed her into the room where the rest of the new students were waiting to be summoned, well aware of his red face. Hearing footsteps approaching the two, he turned toward them and waited for a voice to tell him who it was.

"We were wondering if you two would ever find your way here." Velvet said, and Fox figured the other person was Yatsuhashi.

"How many teams have they made so far?" Coco asked, adjusting her hair idly.

"Three." Velvet answered. Fox had the feeling she was going to say something else, but Ozpin's voice calling out their names had her going silent. "… I guess the four of us are up. Let's go."

Following them out of the small side room and into the speech hall, Fox became aware of how many people were present for the naming of the teams. He was so distracted by the faint murmur of the crowd that he tripped on the stairs leading up to the stage where Ozpin was waiting for them, and Coco caught his arm to keep him from falling, then guided him up the rest of the way. Again, Fox found himself extremely glad to have gotten Coco for a partner.

Once the four of them came up to stand in front of Ozpin, he continued talking. "The four of you retrieved the brown knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as…"

Ozpin paused briefly, looking over the four of them, before continuing. "Team CFVY. Led by Coco."

Fox smiled at their newly named leader, happy with Ozpin's choice. "I know you'll lead us well."

He couldn't see the blush that spread through his partner's face.

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><p><span><strong>Bonus<strong> **scene**

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><p>Still standing on the cliff the students had been launched from, Ozpin and Glynda stared down at Glynda's oversized scroll, both rendered speechless by what the hidden cameras in the forest had just shown them.<p>

"Did one student just claim another as hers?"

"Looks like it." Ozpin sipped his coffee, having regained his composure.

"Are you not disturbed by that at all?"

"Nope. I think they're cute together."

"Ozpin. No. Stop shipping the students."

"I ship it."

"Damn it Ozpin."


End file.
